International students in Canberra have been signed up as members of the discredited Overseas Student Association during a recruitment drive at the University of Canberra which saw its leader reported to police for an alleged assault.
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OSA representatives were recruiting international students at the campus last month, just weeks before the NSW government, police and every NSW university issued a joint statement denouncing the organisation, which is headed by a Sydney businessman known as Master Shang, and its activities.
On October 2, Jacob White, who has since been elected president of the University of Canberra Students' Association, confronted OSA representatives in the university's refectory, after discovering they were handing out applications to join the UCSA, along with $2 to cover the annual membership fee, which Mr White says they explained was an administrative formality to join the OSA.
"They were ferrying them down to our office along with their membership fee which was another concern of ours, because the membership fee has to be paid individually by the student and not by a third party," he said. Mr White said he found the group was enticing international students to join the OSA with the offer of one-off free membership and if they joined, vouchers for discounted entry to various cultural institutions and 20 per cent discounts on groceries.
"I used to work at Coles and I knew that [they] don't accept 20 per cent discounts from anywhere - especially printed out on A4 paper in black and white, Xeroxed," Mr White said.
"This Master Shang man came over … and I said 'these coupons are absurd, they're not real, you're leading these students astray'.
"He said 'you're a liar, go away'."
The argument, which happened in front of a room full of people, allegedly led to Master Shang slapping Mr White across the face, which was reported to campus security and police. Police confirmed they received a report of an assault on the campus, but did not say whether their investigation was complete nor if any charges will be laid.
The OSA did not respond to a request for comment.
The ANU Students' Association confirmed that Master Shang had also contacted them on a number of occasions, although they are not aware of him ever attending the ANU campus. ''Master Shang has been informed by ANUSA that we will not be interacting with him or the OSA,'' a spokesman said.
''The ANU Students' Association works hard to represent international students in conjunction with our international students department, the National Union of Students and the Council of International Students Australia … these organisations are the legitimate bodies for international students to join and contact for assistance or information."
The OSA is the campus wing of the National Liaison Committee, an organisation that once represented international students at the National Union of Students but which was disaffiliated in 2009. As reported by Fairfax Media, the NSW government issued a public warning about the activities of the OSA two weeks ago, supported by police, universities, the recognised national student bodies as well as the institutions purported to be offering discounts to OSA members.
The OSA has been removed from several campuses after asking for personal information, including passport and visa numbers, for ''safety cards'' that are not recognised by police, with the manner of representatives dealing with universities described as harassing and menacing.
